


Pierced Through the Heart

by Raelilly



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, Nico is a body piercer, Piercing shop AU, Piercings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 17:45:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11041137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raelilly/pseuds/Raelilly
Summary: When Will and his friends head to Styx Body Modification they plan to leave with piercings. Nico di Angelo was not a part of their plan.





	Pierced Through the Heart

**Author's Note:**

> So I got some brand new piercings on Saturday, and this has been in my head ever since. The signs in Nico's "office" are taken from my piercer's room. Just a little something fun. I hope you enjoy!

Will looked up at the sign over the door, “Styx Body Modification” was illuminated in purple neon. He sighed heavily. There was no turning back now, even if he wanted to, and honestly he wasn’t sure he wanted to anyway.  
“You don’t have to do this Will,” Lou Ellen seemed to read his mind, she had a gift for that, “you don’t have to prove anything to anybody.”  
“Yeah man,” Cecil piped in, “you can just be here for moral support. Watch us go, then we all have a beer. No biggie.”  
Will sighed again, his friends were amazing but this time they just didn’t understand. “I want to do this, I’m good. I’m just thinking about how many hours I’m going to have to work to make up the money.” He shot them what he hoped was a passable grin, “come on, let’s get it over with.”  
Will didn’t even have to look at them to know Lou and Cecil exchanged a look behind his back. He could practically feel it. It didn’t matter, all he had to do was remember the way Paulo had laughed in his face to reinforce his decision. He was doing this.  
A bell dinged over the pounding rock music that flowed through the speakers as Will and his friends pushed into the shop. It was small, with glass cases filled with different types of jewelry lining the walls, and a small ring of cases and cash register in the center. The woman seated next to the register jumped at the sound of the bell, it was a Tuesday night and clearly not their busiest time. She placed the book she had been reading under the register and brushed back the feather braided into her long, soft brown hair.  
“Welcome to Styx! I’m Piper, what can we do for you guys?”  
Lou Ellen, ever fearless, stepped up to the counter, “We’re looking to get some piercings done.”  
Will tuned out and looked at the displayed jewelry as Lou and Piper discussed the details, Cecil interjecting every now and again. Will was crouched down inspecting what appeared to be jewelry made out of bone when Piper leaned against the case next to him.  
“And you, what are you looking for tonight?”  
“Snakebites.” Will answered without any hesitation.  
Piper seemed a bit hesitant. “Adventurous, so you’ve been pierced before?”  
Will avoided her eyes “ah, no actually. This will be my first time.”  
Piper’s eyebrows drew together, “Really? That’s a pretty big step for your first one, do you maybe wanna try an ear first? Our piercer can do lots of really cool things, look…”  
She had pulled her hair back to display her left ear, which appeared to be pierced in every possible position. Will was actually impressed that one ear could hold so much metal.  
“Ears are a good start because they’re not as noticeable as facial jewelry. Sometimes it’s a good idea to ease yourself into things instead of…”  
“Listen, I know what I want. I appreciate the thought, but if it’s all the same to you I’d really just rather get this over with.” Even Will was surprised at how rude his response sounded.  
“Ok then,” Piper smiled at him, almost like she understood, or at least had seen this before. “Let’s pick out your jewelry, rings will be in this case over to the left.”  
Will picked out a plain stainless steel captive ball ring, but Piper talked him into the dark blue captive balls, “they’ll bring out your eyes.”  
The three friends filled out the necessary paperwork, and Piper made copies of their ID’s before stepping to a curtain that lead to the back of the building.  
“Give me just a minute, I’ll grab your piercer.”  
Will wandered back to the case with the bone jewelry, it really was beautiful in a strange way. Suddenly Lou was next to him.  
“Will please don’t do this, don’t you feel like maybe you’re over reacting just a little? This is a major body modification, even if you take out the rings you’ll always have a scar. I just don’t want you to make this decision for the wrong reasons.”  
“Listen Lou, I get it, and I appreciate your concern, but I have to do this.”  
“For Paulo? Or for you?”  
“For me,” he answered a bit too quickly. Lou rolled her eyes.  
“Fine. Whatever. Just remember I tried to talk you out of it.”  
Piper stepped back out from behind the curtain with what Will considered to be perfect timing. She was followed closely by what Will assumed was their piercer, and his jaw dropped just the slightest bit as he stepped into the light.  
The first things Will noticed were dark eyes with thick black lashes. The type of lashes that Will’s sister always said were wasted on men, but these didn’t seem wasted, they framed those dark eyes perfectly, softening them enough to not seem harsh agains his pale skin.  
The second things Will noticed were the way the Ramone’s T-shirt hugged his shoulders almost too tightly, and the black jeans rode low on his hips. As if they were old favorites that he had almost outgrown, but refused to get rid of because they were just too comfortable.  
The third thing Will noticed was “holy shit this guy’s hot.” (And all he could think was a sarcastic “and he’s going to stick needles in me. Awesome.”) Not only did he have the snake bite piercings Will had come in for, he also had a stud that sat right in the middle of his lower lip. Will had never seen anything so sexy in his life. He also had a septum ring, small gauges in both earlobes, and several cartilage piercings on each ear. It was just enough, especially considering that he worked in a body modification shop. Will imagined it would be easy to get carried away if you were there every day.  
“Hey guys, this is Nico, he’ll be your piercer tonight. Nico this is Lou Ellen, Cecil and Will.” Piper punctuated each name by handing Nico a clip board with their paperwork neatly attached. “You guys are in good hands, have fun!” With that she went back to her book by the register.  
“All right,” Nico didn’t meet their eyes as he looked over the clip boards, “If you’ll follow me into my office then we can start the pain.” He looked up and grinned at that, Will really hoped he was kidding.  
Nico led them back to a private room, closing the door ominously after all three had entered. (OK maybe it just seemed ominous to Will, he was a little nervous, so what?)  
Still looking over the clip boards Nico asked “all right kiddies, who wants to go first?”  
Lou Ellen stepped forward before Will could even pull in a breath, “Me, it was my idea, I get to go first.”  
Nico grinned, “eager, I like that. What are we doing tonight?”  
Lou explained what she wanted, some fancy cartilage piercing that she had heard would help with her migraines, and Nico snapped on a pair of purple gloves and started getting everything set up.  
“So, this is quite a little piercing party, what’s the occasion?” he asked as he worked.  
“We graduated day before yesterday from Olympus U,” Lou answered easily, she was always the best in social situations, “Cecil and I figured we could have one last stupid childish night out before we have to officially become adults. After this we’re getting trashed. Will’s driving.”  
“Oh?” Nico looked over to Will, amusement plain in those coffee brown eyes. “How did you pull the short straw Sunshine? Did you not graduate?”  
Will had to clear his throat before he could answer, “I got my under-grad, but now I’m officially a med student. So I still have a few more years of school. They get to drive my drunk ass around when that’s over. At least, that’s the plan.”  
“Good plan.” Nico smiled at him with just the corners of his mouth, which only served to highlight the lip piercings. Will lowered his eyes to hide the blush he could feel spreading across his cheeks.  
Nico cleaned and marked Lou’s ear, he had her check it in the mirror and once Cecil and Will both agreed it was perfect he grabbed the needle.  
“Remember to breath through the pain and you’ll be fine. Ready?”  
Nico had the needle through Lou’s ear before Will could even blink, and he wished that he hadn’t seen it. Suddenly this was all too real, the room felt too small and hot.  
“Remember why you’re doing this,” Will whispered to himself.  
“What’s that?” Cecil asked.  
“Nothing, I’m good,” Will looked away and focused on his breathing.  
Will tuned out again as Nico went over after-care with Lou, telling her how to keep the new jewelry clean and reminding her that everything would be in the pamphlet Piper would give them as they left. Will didn't figure he had to pay close attention, he was a med student after all, he knew basic wound care.  
Cecil bumped shoulders with Will “guess I’m next then, huh Space-Case?”  
Will rolled his eyes as Nico washed his hands and pulled out a fresh pair of purple gloves.  
“Alright,” Nico consulted Cecil’s clip board, “what’s next? Industrial?”  
“Yup,” Cecil hopped up onto the table Lou had vacated, “I’m starting a new job next week, I figure this is the most I can get away with.”  
Nico shrugged, “always a good idea to stay on the safe side. If they give you any trouble just come back, I’ll take the jewelry out for you. I won’t charge you for removal, it’s typically better if you don’t do it yourself. Unless of course Dr. Sunshine there is willing to help.” He grinned as he cleaned and marked Cecil’s ear.  
“I’m not a doctor yet,” was all Will could manage as a reply.  
Cecil’s piercing went even quicker than Lou’s, it required two holes, but the bar jewelry seemed easier for Nico to close than the captive ball Lou had.  
“And last but not least,” Nico patted the table before moving to wash his hands again. He glanced at the clip board as he pulled out another pair of gloves. “Snake bites? Really?”  
Confusion was evident in his eyes as he looked up at Will. “You sure? That’s these,” he indicated his own lip piercings, “you sure you want that? We could start with something less obvious…”  
“I know what they are,” Will sounded petulant even to himself, “why does everybody keep asking me that?”  
“Listen part of our job here is to make sure that we fit the modification to the person,” Nico looked directly into Will’s eyes, “we all want to make sure you don’t regret the modifications we give you here.”  
“Well I know what I’m doing, and I don’t hold you responsible so can you just do it already? I’m sure Lou and Cecil are ready to start their bender…”  
“Nah, we’re good.” Lou piped in unhelpfully. Will glared at her.  
“Alright, why don’t you tell me why you chose this piercing in particular?”  
“I don’t know, I just think they look hot, and you know, doesn’t everyone want to look hot?” Will couldn’t meet Nico’s eyes as he said it. He’d always been a terrible liar, he wasn’t sure he could even convince this stranger.  
“You think they’re hot, or Paulo thinks they’re hot?” Lou asked quietly.  
Nico’s brow wrinkled in confusion, “who’s Paulo?”  
Will sighed, he should have known he couldn’t trust Lou. “It doesn’t matter, Lou shut up, can we just get this over with?”  
Evidently Cecil had decided to turn traitor too, “Paulo went to school with us, super hot, he was here on an international scholarship from Brazil. Will asked him out last week and Paulo turned him down, said he was ‘too Hollister’ whatever that means.”  
“…so you want me to pierce your lip twice so you can be more attractive to some piece of ass from Brazil?” Nico’s eyebrows nearly hit his hairline as he asked the question, those coffee brown eyes filled with nothing but sadness.  
“What? No, I just, this has nothing to do with Paulo! I just want to be a little, you know, edgier.”  
“Sure, ok.” Lou roller her eyes. Will smacked her shoulder.  
“If you want to be edgier we could just dye your hair. You’d look good with green hair,” Cecil muttered. Will smacked him too.  
Nico sighed, “Ok, let me see,” He put his hands on either side of Will’s face, lifting his chin and rolling Will’s head from one side to the other. His tongue flicked out to touch the stud in the center of his lip, he looked deep in thought. He released Will’s head and stepped back.  
“Nope.” he said as he snapped off the purple gloves and tossed them in the trash.  
“What do you mean ‘nope?”” Will was incredulous, what was happening here?  
“I mean nope I won’t pierce you.” Nico smiled as he stepped to the sink to wash his hands again.  
“You… I have cash…. you can’t just say no!” Will could feel his cheeks flushing with anger.  
Nico grinned, “actually, I can.” He pointed to a sign next to the sink, it read “We have the right to refuse service to anyone.” Will groaned.  
“Yeah but you can’t refuse service for no reason at all!”  
Nico’s grin grew even larger and he pointed to the smaller sign below the first, “for no reason at all.”  
Will huffed, “Listen you don’t understand…”  
“No,” Nico interrupted, now he sounded angry as well, “you don’t understand. I’m not fucking up a perfectly handsome face just because some douche bag who’s probably not even close to being good enough for you told you that you were ‘too Hollister’ for him. Especially because I know that you’re a med student, who will some day need to find a job in the medical field, and facial piercings won’t do you any favors. So no, Sunshine, I will not pierce you tonight. Now,” he moved to the door, “let’s get you two out to Piper so you can pay. Don’t worry,” he glared at Will for good measure, “I’m not expecting a tip.”  
Lou and Cecil stepped through the door, matching grins on their faces told Will that Nico was still getting a tip, probably a really good one.  
“He said you’re handsome,” Lou whispered as she passed.  
Will sighed heavily, before turning to Nico again. He decided to give it one last try.  
“Please, you don’t understand…” Will pleaded.  
“I understand,” Nico’s voice was softer this time, “I do. You’re not the first person to try to change themselves for some guy. I don’t think you understand yet.” He sighed and rubbed a hand along the back of his neck, “I tell you what,” Nico pulled one of the business cards from a little holder by the sink, “those piercings would have taken about thee months to heal, so you take this,” he scribbled something on the back of the card before handing it to Will, “and in 12 weeks if you still want the piercings you bring this card and I’ll do them for free. Deal?”  
Will took the card and slid it into this back pocket, “I could just go to another shop you know. There are at least three other shops within a mile of this place.”  
“You could,” Nico grinned again, “but we’re the best in town, and we both know that’s why you picked this place to begin with. You’re a med student, you’re not stupid.”  
Will sighed again in defeat. He turned to head towards the front of the building.  
“Hey Sunshine,” He turned to face Nico again, “make sure your friend takes care of that Industrial? I don’t think he was listening at all to the after care instructions.”  
“Yeah,” will answered, “I’ll make sure he reads the pamphlet.”  
Nico winked, “see you around Sunshine.”

**Author's Note:**

> Leave comments if you would like to see more of this. I have the three moths later mapped out including a date, and I could definitely be persuaded to write it if there's interest. Thank you for reading!


End file.
